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Friday, November 23, 2007

I've finished the 3rd installment of the Gyakuten Saiban (otherwise known as Phoenix Wright though it translates to "The turnabout judgement/trial(s)") games to see that the localization team for Capcom is still one of my favorites. (Second would be the Tales of Symphonia team) If you're unaware of who/what Phoenix Wright is then I WON'T simply send you to a wiki link. Phoenix Wright was originally a GBA game ported to the DS and is what people seem to classify as a "visual novel." It's a linear, text based game in which you take the role of a defense attorney, Phoenix Wright. The game is split into two distinct sections: Investigation and Trial. So what makes this "visual novel" so interesting? Well, besides yelling OBJECTION, TAKE THAT, and HOLD IT! (or いぎあり if you're playing the japanese version...) in the middle of a crowd or in the recesses of your own home, the story itself is compelling. Think about it for a second... The game can't be sold in terms of gameplay, so it would have to rely on other forms... More specifically, how the port was, music, graphics, and oh yeah.. STORY. In general, the first game was a nice overall with a especially nice DS exclusive case that made you want more. The second game was a port, nothing more. No DS case, and it felt like they were milking it, but each story was somewhat compelling, nonetheless .

The third game however. Wow. Of course like the other two games, there was a new variation on music but the writers did a great job linking nearly everything together. It made me realize just how good of a suspense writer they could be. There are somethings objectionable but they were minor in the big scheme. The minor details that they put in just made it that much better. It's a good DS buy, and while there are other means of retrieving it, I will not say.

This would lead me to the 4th installment that Capcom is localizing.

I got another good laugh. Not because of the new attorney's hairdo but rather his name. It made me realize just how good these guys were. His name has been localized to "Apollo Justice" but his original name: 王泥喜 (odoroki) 法介(housuke) was what got me. Now, the name in itself seems normal. His name can be translated to "the King who attaches himself to rejoice" so to speak, but let me give you a bit of insight into japanese. Odoroki in Japanese means a surprise/astonishment... The Hou in Housuke is the same character used for the Hou in "law." Get it? It's a pun. Phoenix Wright was regarded as a sub-par defense lawyer who surprised the court for his surprisingly logical deductions. As the 4th game is set to take place 7 years later, the main character's name is already a reference to the predecessor. In addition, according to the voice clips from the trailer, he's a very...verbally clumsy kinda guy, similar to phoenix, which seems to emphasize the pun even more... Maybe I'm thinking too deeply about this, but it doesn't feel like a mere coincidence. Regardless, I can't wait for this new game to be localized. Though I feel like now I want Capcom to release Japanese voice overs along with the english ones due to how fitting the voices are already....BTW, Phoenix is the last person who yelled Objection! Yeah, he dumped the suit and tie and seems to be speaking in a more refined tone.

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About Me

My fascination in anime, games and programming has always been very strong, but I think I crossed the line from devoted fan to Otaku when I couldn't help but buy a 1/6 ratio casual version of Saber from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia at a super low price of $35. Rather, an epiphany occurred and suddenly I no longer cared that I had always been a full-fledged Otaku.